Movies that Mention CAP?

[Major Carrales]

I was watching some of the "Doom and Gloom" shows on the Histoy Channel this morning while I was working on my weekly newsletter.  I was pulled from that work, if only for a second, by the mention of the CAP in Hawaii.

This got me thinking...I rememeber doing the same thing when watching a Matthew Broderick movie called "Project X" where he was a USAF airman radiating chimps for some US government project.

Anyone else know of any movies that mention CAP?

[♠SARKID♠]

I know in one of the Splinter Cell video games, an entire mission takes place at an "Abandoned CAP base".  Havent played the game, but I know its there.

[Cecil DP]

CAP had a major part in one of the Dynasty episodes, when one of the Colbys plane crashed in the Rockies.

[♠SARKID♠]

pulled this off of wikipedia

    * In the movie Red Zone Cuba, which was spoofed by Mystery Science Theater 3000, one of the scenes featured a large radio van in the background with Civil Air Patrol markings on it.

    * One of the ABC's Weekend Specials in 1981 was an adaptation of the book Mayday! Mayday! by Hilary Martin wherein the Civil Air Patrol was used to locate passengers of a private airplane crash.

    * According Oliver Stone's film JFK, David Ferrie and other members of the alleged conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy were members of the Civil Air Patrol, and had supposedly given Cuban exiles military training for the Bay of Pigs invasion.

it also had the Dynasty reference

[John Bryan]

Around 1988 or so when I first joined CAP I remember a movie on the Disney Channel called "Solo". It was about a women's first solo gone bad. She crashed and there was a major CAP search.

I have never been able to find it on video or on TV since.

[JohnKachenmeister]

"Red Dawn" was originally supposed to be about a CAP squadron, but NHQ refused to give permission for the name and logo to be used.  So they made it about the football team instead.

"Iron Eagle" was also supposed to be about a CAP squadron on an AF base, but NHQ again refused to let the name and logos be used, so the producers made it a private dependent flying club made up of teenagers on base.

I can understand the Iron Eagle denial.  The main character violates AF regulations by listening to rock music while engaging in unauthorized flight of an F-16, flies an airplane in a reckless manner racing a motorcycle, and working with members of his squadron, steals 2 F-16's, arranges two mid-air refuelings, attacks a third world dictatorship, rescuses an American hostage, and gets sent to the Air Force Academy for his trouble.

We do NOT want to give those puppies any ideas!

[ZigZag911]

In the late '80s there was a TV series called "Our House", starred Wilford Brimley (the Quaker Oats guy!), probably his first big break...he was around 50, looked 70....anyway, Shannen Doherty (later '90210' & 'Charmed' star) played his teenage granddaughter who was taking flying lessons....her plane went down (I believe it was a dual X-country, may have been solo) and CAP came to the rescue!

[Major Carrales]

In the late '80s there was a TV series called "Our House", starred Wilford Brimley (the Quaker Oats guy!), probably his first big break...he was around 50, looked 70....anyway, Shannen Doherty (later '90210' & 'Charmed' star) played his teenage granddaughter who was taking flying lessons....her plane went down (I believe it was a dual X-country, may have been solo) and CAP came to the rescue!

I remember that series.  But I don't rememeber that episode.  I do rememeber one with an earthquake where she took some sort of unauthroized flight (as in her parents had disapproved) and did not know anything about the major earthquake because she had been flying.

[Johnny Yuma]

I remember the episode. Wilford took Doherty to Edwards AFB on a tour, she took a ride in a CAP plane I believe and crashed with a guy on base!

It also involved a reunion with an estranged uncle of Doherty's character, Brimley's character's son.

I was a cadet at the time and the unit got a big laugh out of the episode.

[JohnKachenmeister]

I can't remember the song nor the artist, but there was a music video that featured an old WWII bomber pilot who was seen in the video wearing a CAP uniform.  It goes back to the time when we wore "CAP" on the collars, and I can't remember what was on the epaulet. 

The video showed the old guy taking off his jacket, then sitting in a rocking chair recalling the events of his life.

No pickups, hot girls dancing, or beer.  No wonder I can't remember it.

[mikeylikey]

No pickups, hot girls dancing, or beer.  No wonder I can't remember it.

Ah......the good life!

[Major Carrales]

There are two scenes of which I have sene on television but that I cannot confirm.

One was an Hispanic Heritiage documentary on PBS that, while mentioning that the Military provided opportunities to the Hispanic Community of South Texas it showed some artifacts on a table (including a Silver and Bronze Star) that included a blue CAP service cap with CAP insignia.

Also, I once saw an interview with "Flip" Wilson where...and this was only a fleeting picture...he had the service cap insignia on a baseball cap. 

[♠SARKID♠]

CAP had a major part in one of the Dynasty episodes, when one of the Colbys plane crashed in the Rockies.

Was that when Fallon Carrington's or Monica Colby's plane crashed?  Because I watched all of the episodes involving Fallon's and they dont even show the search.  It goes from Fallon being deported at the very end of one episode, to body ID at the beginning of the next.  No mention of CAP.  If its during Monica's crash, I might have a hard time finding that.

[Major Lord]

"According Oliver Stone's film JFK, David Ferrie and other members of the alleged conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy were members of the Civil Air Patrol, and had supposedly given Cuban exiles military training for the Bay of Pigs invasion."

Run for it boys! Their on to us!

And then Cuban intelligence retaliated against CAP by sending in a deep cover operative to take over our organization and ....hey wait a minute.......

Major Lord

[Cecil DP]

"According Oliver Stone's film JFK, David Ferrie and other members of the alleged conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy were members of the Civil Air Patrol, and had supposedly given Cuban exiles military training for the Bay of Pigs invasion."

Run for it boys! Their on to us!

And then Cuban intelligence retaliated against CAP by sending in a deep cover operative to take over our organization and ....hey wait a minute.......

Major Lord

Don't forget that Lee Harvey Oswald was a member of Texas Wing.

[Major Carrales]

"According Oliver Stone's film JFK, David Ferrie and other members of the alleged conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy were members of the Civil Air Patrol, and had supposedly given Cuban exiles military training for the Bay of Pigs invasion."

Run for it boys! Their on to us!

And then Cuban intelligence retaliated against CAP by sending in a deep cover operative to take over our organization and ....hey wait a minute.......

Major Lord

Don't forget that Lee Harvey Oswald was a member of Texas Wing.

Col (General) Byrd...first Texas Wing Commander, owned the Texas School Book Depository.

[Cecil DP]

In the late 50's early 60's there was the "Bob Cummings Show" He played a photographer and his nephew (Dwayne Hickman, later played as Dobie Gillis) was a member of the Civil Air Patrol.

Two Academy Award winners were members of CAP. Mary Astor and Cliff Robertson. Jerry Lewis was also an official spokeman into the 60's. 

[Cecil DP]

"According Oliver Stone's film JFK, David Ferrie and other members of the alleged conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy were members of the Civil Air Patrol, and had supposedly given Cuban exiles military training for the Bay of Pigs invasion."

Run for it boys! Their on to us!

And then Cuban intelligence retaliated against CAP by sending in a deep cover operative to take over our organization and ....hey wait a minute.......

Major Lord

Don't forget that Lee Harvey Oswald was a member of Texas Wing.

Col (General) Byrd...first Texas Wing Commander, owned the Texas School Book Depository.

So that's how Oswald got the job!!

[CASH172]

There's also that movie about the Texas Cadet Murder which now has the name Swearing Allegiance.  The movie's about two CAP cadets that kill another teenage girl after a love triangle.  Look at the Spaatz list and you'll see the rescinded number.  The guy in the movie plays the character of the rescinded Spaatz recipient.

[SarDragon]

They would be David Graham, and Diane Zamora. More here.

[mikeylikey]

CAP had a major part in one of the Dynasty episodes, when one of the Colbys plane crashed in the Rockies.

Was that when Fallon Carrington's or Monica Colby's plane crashed?  Because I watched all of the episodes involving Fallon's and they dont even show the search.  It goes from Fallon being deported at the very end of one episode, to body ID at the beginning of the next.  No mention of CAP.  If its during Monica's crash, I might have a hard time finding that.

Dude......it's Dynasty.  Are you a Dallas watcher as well??

[Cecil DP]

CAP had a major part in one of the Dynasty episodes, when one of the Colbys plane crashed in the Rockies.

Was that when Fallon Carrington's or Monica Colby's plane crashed?  Because I watched all of the episodes involving Fallon's and they dont even show the search.  It goes from Fallon being deported at the very end of one episode, to body ID at the beginning of the next.  No mention of CAP.  If its during Monica's crash, I might have a hard time finding that.

Dude......it's Dynasty.  Are you a Dallas watcher as well??

No, just remembered the excitement when they shot the show. Frankly don't care for any of the soaps.

[♠SARKID♠]

CAP had a major part in one of the Dynasty episodes, when one of the Colbys plane crashed in the Rockies.

Was that when Fallon Carrington's or Monica Colby's plane crashed?  Because I watched all of the episodes involving Fallon's and they dont even show the search.  It goes from Fallon being deported at the very end of one episode, to body ID at the beginning of the next.  No mention of CAP.  If its during Monica's crash, I might have a hard time finding that.

Dude......it's Dynasty.  Are you a Dallas watcher as well??

No....God No....I'd never even heard of dynasty till this thread.  I've just been trying to find the episode to see it.

[NIN]

I swear there was some kind of an "After School Special" show in the early 1980s that featured Erik Estrada as an observer in a CA Wing T-34....

But then, he might just have been doing the whole "CA Wing flies CHiPs around" thing..

[w7sar]

The movie "solo" was about a crash survivor.  The plane crashed on the Utah-Colorado border and the pilot (on a solo flight) survived for a week or so.  I was one of the coordinators for the search (we had many as the search went on for over a week).  Two CAP members died on that search.  There is also a book "Solo" written by the survivor.  Movie and book were never a big hit, but CAP is mentioned in the book and in the movie.  I want to say this was in the late 1980s, but I cannot remember specifics.  I do have the book and video, however -- and I recall the profound loss we felt when we learned of the loss of two of our members.

[sardak]

There was a 1978 made for TV movie called "And I Alone Survived," based on book by the same name by Lauren Elder.  It told her story of being the lone survivor of a plane crash in the Sierras in California, after the other initial survivor died in her arms.  With a broken arm and other injuries she made her way down from the crash site at 12,000+ feet to the Owens Valley.

CAP was involved in the search and I believe had some involvement with the movie.

Mike

[James Shaw]

Lassies Great Adventure October 1962 1 HR 37M

[JohnKachenmeister]

"According Oliver Stone's film JFK, David Ferrie and other members of the alleged conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy were members of the Civil Air Patrol, and had supposedly given Cuban exiles military training for the Bay of Pigs invasion."

Run for it boys! Their on to us!

And then Cuban intelligence retaliated against CAP by sending in a deep cover operative to take over our organization and ....hey wait a minute.......

Major Lord

Don't forget that Lee Harvey Oswald was a member of Texas Wing.

Col (General) Byrd...first Texas Wing Commander, owned the Texas School Book Depository.

Wow... I didn't know that. 

Pineda was seen on the Grassy Knoll, however.  That was proven with surveilance tapes found in the UFO crash in Rockwell.

[Major Lord]

"That was proven with surveilance tapes found in the UFO crash in Rockwell."

Hah! you have given yourself away! Aliens don't use videotape!

I don't think the commies really wanted to kill Kennedy. ( He was more or less , one of them anyway) And Kennedy did not want to Kill Castro ( we have ways of doing that , I have been lead to believe) I think CIA has a good motive for wacking Kennedy after he betrayed our country, betrayed the Cuban people, and let down the Special Forces community in a big way by withdrawing support during Bahia Cochinas. ( and fornicating with mobster's girlfriends is not a prudent thing to do  either)

Do you know why Arnold Schwarzenneger married Maria Shriver? They are trying to breed a bullet-proof kennedy!  She should have married Chuck Norris.....

Major Lord

[alamrcn]

"Go" (1999) starring Katie Holmes and Jay Mohr...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0139239/

In the very end of the movie (with about 2 min left), there is a scene set in a grocery store where some earlier parts movie take place, and one of the primary characters works. In the background you can clearly see the back of a customer wearing the white CAP DDR shirt! Funny what slips into the extras' wordrobe rack.

-Ace

[JohnKachenmeister]

"Go" (1999) starring Katie Holmes and Jay Mohr...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0139239/

In the very end of the movie (with about 2 min left), there is a scene set in a grocery store where some earlier parts movie take place, and one of the primary characters works. In the background you can clearly see the back of a customer wearing the white CAP DDR shirt! Funny what slips into the extras' wordrobe rack.

-Ace

You actually watched a Katie Holmes movie?  All the way to the end?  Ewwwww!

[JohnKachenmeister]

"That was proven with surveilance tapes found in the UFO crash in Rockwell."

Hah! you have given yourself away! Aliens don't use videotape!

I don't think the commies really wanted to kill Kennedy. ( He was more or less , one of them anyway) And Kennedy did not want to Kill Castro ( we have ways of doing that , I have been lead to believe) I think CIA has a good motive for wacking Kennedy after he betrayed our country, betrayed the Cuban people, and let down the Special Forces community in a big way by withdrawing support during Bahia Cochinas. ( and fornicating with mobster's girlfriends is not a prudent thing to do  either)

Do you know why Arnold Schwarzenneger married Maria Shriver? They are trying to breed a bullet-proof kennedy!  She should have married Chuck Norris.....

Major Lord

What are the chances of a Kennedy male dying of natural causes?






Nobody knows... it hasn't happened yet.

[JohnKachenmeister]

I almost forgot!

There was a show on The History Channel back in the 1990's called "Untold Stories of World War II."  The show opened with the CAP insignia spinning around like a propeller, but to my knowledge, they NEVER did a story about CAP in World War II.

So, I guess we are still "Untold."

[Ford73Diesel]

I remember seeing 2 kids in CAP BDU's on some disney show a few years ago. They were flying a plane. Wish I would have seen the whole thing or at least remember the name of the show.

[w7sar]

Additional information on the movie Solo.


I dug through my old VCR collection and found the movie.  It wasn't very well done.  It was produced by Lyman Dayton and based on the book "solo" written by Patricia O'Brien King.  I didn't want to watch the movie to see the credits, so I don't know when it was made.  It was locally distributed and flopped in theaters.   

The book was written in 1983 and dedicated to SAR volunteers.  It recounts the events from mission AFRCC 7-840.   It mentioned Kay Ahlstrom and Harold Steab, both CAP members killed in a crash on the mission.   Many of the photos in the book were taken by a good friend of mine.  The search generated a fair amount of attention -- especially when the pilot was found, barely alive, but alive.

The mission was in June 1981 when Sherleen Jaussi left Price, Utah on a solo flight (round trip from Price to Grand Junction, Colo., to Price).  She survived five days, severely injured in the crash.  She was flying a Piper Tomahawk and it is amazing that she survived the crash, and then survived  five days to be rescued. 

It was one of many finds/saves that I've been involved with in my 36 years with CAP.  Thanks for the topic!  It has reminded me why we do what we do.

It also reminds me of the risks we take to serve others.  Kay and Harold were outstanding CAP members, always willing to respond when needed.  Blue skies fellows!


Jerry W.
Utah Wing

[w7sar]

I also ran across a book "The Sacrament, a true story of survival" written by Peter Gzowski in 1980.  It details the crash of a flight from Canada to Boise, Idaho. 

Two people survived the crash in May 1979.  They were not found by an extensive air search (CAP mentioned throughout the book).  The pair walked out of Idaho mountains two weeks after the crash.

The crash was May 5, 1979 -- a Cessna 172 with four aboard.  Two died of injuries within the first day or two  after the crash.  Two walked out 14 days after the crash.  The book was very well written and makes an interesting read.  The author spent a lot of time interviewing those involved and tells their story with great understanding.

It's off-topic, because no movie was ever made, but it is a contemporary work and non-fiction.  Many books were written in the early years of CAP, a lot of them fiction.   Not too many recent books that I can recall detail CAP in the present.  Even though this book is from 1979, in the book/history world, it is rather current.

Jerry W.
Utah Wing

[♠SARKID♠]

"Go" (1999) starring Katie Holmes and Jay Mohr...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0139239/

In the very end of the movie (with about 2 min left), there is a scene set in a grocery store where some earlier parts movie take place, and one of the primary characters works. In the background you can clearly see the back of a customer wearing the white CAP DDR shirt! Funny what slips into the extras' wordrobe rack.

-Ace

[alamrcn]

Super cool frame capture from Go

You are a ROCKSTAR!  -heh-  Got any more tricks?

Funny that the movie is mostly about drugs, and I never even saw the irony till now!

-Ace

[sardak]

Interesting illusion.  If you look at that picture long enough,  someone in a CAP DDR t-shirt appears in the background.

Mike

[♠SARKID♠]

Super cool frame capture from Go

You are a ROCKSTAR!  -heh-  Got any more tricks?

I'll see what I can pull out of my magic hat 

[♠SARKID♠]

I was tooling around on the web and found a show called "Cavalcade of America" on TV.com.  Its an old radio (and aparrently, later TV) show from the fifties, and one episode was called "Disaster Patrol".

From TV.com

The work, organization, and purpose of the Civil Air Patrol is described in a dramatization about a CAP pilot in California who risks his life to fly doctors and emergency supplies into a canyon community seriously damaged by an earthquake.

Anyone know anything about this?  I'm trying to find a recording of the episode.

[NIN]

In case you've never seen it, CadetStuff serialized a book that I found on eBay some years ago called "Squadron Command" EDIT: "Squadron Alert" (I'm a dork and had a brain cramp there..):

http://www.cadetstuff.org/archives/cat_features.html


(we're working on rebuilding our CMS into something different.. this particular presentation is... Poor. But all 19 chapters are there)

[Striker941]

Does anyone have or seen the whole "special" of MAYDAY! MAYDAY!?  i have only been able to find the 9 minute clip on youtube of just after the crash.... i tried asking National about it but they have no clue, or know nothing of it.

[NJMEDIC]

Dale Brown in his latest book mentions CAP, He is a retired Capt. USAF

[bricktonfire]

this is not a movie but in Dale BRown's Book Strike Force it talks about the Civil Air Patrol

[bricktonfire]

sry for the double post i did not see it

[0]

Dale Brown in his latest book mentions CAP, He is a retired Capt. USAF

this is not a movie but in Dale BRown's Book Strike Force it talks about the Civil Air Patrol

While Mr. Brown does mention us in this book.  It's not that new, it's been out for over a year.  The confusion of it being "new" is that it was just released in paperback.

[dogboy]

"Red Dawn" was originally supposed to be about a CAP squadron, but NHQ refused to give permission for the name and logo to be used.  So they made it about the football team instead.

As a movie screenwriter, I don't believe this is very likely. Since few members of the public know what the Civil Air Patrol is, a whole pointless backstory would have been necessary to explain it. Everyone knows what a football team is.

Also,

[Hawk200]

Not a movie reference, but I remember an episode of "Pretender" mentioning CAP. Don't remember much about it, other than he was in Arizona, someone got lost, he goes to the Sherrif's office. Sherrif yells at his deputy to alert the K9 team, someone else, and "the Civil Air Patrol".

CAP was most definitely not a part of the story, only a mention.

[Major Carrales]

"Cowboy in the Clouds," a 1940s era movie about a CAP Officer.  Here is what the net says about it...

This western features a flying cowboy. He is a rancher who became a pilot. As a pilot he staunchly defends the newly formed Civil Air Patrol from the cattle barons who fail to see the value of airplanes on the range. The flying rancher proves that they are indeed valuable after he flies into a forest fire and saves a cattle rancher's daughter. He also uses his plane to catch a murderer. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

[dogboy]

BTW, "Red Dawn" is available online for free at http://www.watchclassicmovies.com/Site/Red_Dawn.html

I dunno how this can be or whether it's legal but there it is. It's an flv so you can download it.

"Red Dawn" was originally supposed to be about a CAP squadron, but NHQ refused to give permission for the name and logo to be used.  So they made it about the football team instead.

As a movie screenwriter, I don't believe this is very likely. Since few members of the public know what the Civil Air Patrol is, a whole pointless backstory would have been necessary to explain it. Everyone knows what a football team is.

Also,

[High Speed Low Drag]

I just happened to be watching an "old" movie when I saw CAP wings.

"If looks could kill," about 20 minutes into it, the main characher (teenager Michael Corbin) is asleep on the flight to France when a secret agent pins a set of wings on to "Corbin."  The wings are gold plated and look like CAP Observer Wings.

[Major Rob]

This is from memory, especially as it was quick and fleeting and I'd have to go back and re-watch to confirm it. But, a fellow member and myself went to see the movie Live Free or Die Hard and we both swore that we heard radio chatter during the scene where the fighters are chasing Bruce Willis' truck across a bridge that mentioned "something, something, Civil Air Patrol."

It may not be a featured role, but - unless we are gravely mistaken - it was there. Maybe someone else can confirm this for us?

[JohnKachenmeister]

"Red Dawn" was originally supposed to be about a CAP squadron, but NHQ refused to give permission for the name and logo to be used.  So they made it about the football team instead.

As a movie screenwriter, I don't believe this is very likely. Since few members of the public know what the Civil Air Patrol is, a whole pointless backstory would have been necessary to explain it. Everyone knows what a football team is.

Also,

Iran into an Army Lt Col from DoD Public Affairs at a conference once.  We had dinner together, and he told stories about DoD support requests from Hollywood studios.

He mentioned the CAP/Red Dawn connection, as well as a CAP connection to "Iron Eagle" that was similarly supposed to involve a CAP on-base squadron.  CAP refused to allow use of the name and logo for that one, so the dependent children who stole the F-16's were formed into some undefined club.

DoD support was also withheld for "Heartbreak Ridge" because the producers refused to redact the scene where Gunny Highway shoots the wounded Cubans.

Back in the 80's there was a prime-time soap opera about Army life on some post, with the personal drama centering around the life and loves of people in an Airborne unit.  I forget the name of the show.  Initially, it had DoD support, but it was withdrawn when they included a scene abouit a company commander's wife engaging in group sex with several members of her husband's company.  DoD offered to continue support if they simply had her having an affair with ONE member of the company, but not such a large percentage of her husband's command.  The show jumped the shark about that time, anyway.

[ol'fido]

Google the actor Cliff Potts and you might get the name of the show. Can't remember it either but I do remember him playing the company first shirt who was also having an affair with a very blonde and bosomy Army doctor.

[ßτε]

For Love and Honor

[a2capt]

I can so envision Red Dawn being centered around a hard kewl gung ho squadron. ... while it would have been not as bad as Iron Eagle, probably still not the image that they wanted to convey.

[JohnKachenmeister]

Once in a great while Hollywood does something that shows that some of the people out on the Left Coast may have an IQ above room temperature.  Like in Starship Troopers, the troop-carrying spaceship was named the "Rodger Young."  Rodger Young was a Medal of Honor recipient in the 37th Infantry Division in World War II. 

[FlyTiger77]

Once in a great while Hollywood does something that shows that some of the people out on the Left Coast may have an IQ above room temperature.  Like in Starship Troopers, the troop-carrying spaceship was named the "Rodger Young."  Rodger Young was a Medal of Honor recipient in the 37th Infantry Division in World War II.

Or they just took it verbatim from the text of Mr. Heinlein's 1959 masterpiece (of which the movie made a mockery, but, alas, that is a topic for another thread).

[dogboy]

"Red Dawn" was originally supposed to be about a CAP squadron, but NHQ refused to give permission for the name and logo to be used.  So they made it about the football team instead.

"Iron Eagle" was also supposed to be about a CAP squadron on an AF base, but NHQ again refused to let the name and logos be used, so the producers made it a private dependent flying club made up of teenagers on base.

I've heard these stories a hundred times and never seen a shred of documentation for them. They are highly unlikely. They always seem to come from people who know nothing about the law and less about filmmaking.

First, filmmakers don't have to obtain the permission  of CAP NHQ to use the name and logo. It's called "fair use". Do you think they got Army permission to make "Platoon?

If the script were openly defamatory about CAP, such as claiming that adult CAP leaders of Cadets are pedophiles, then there might be some legal ground for objecting. But just identifying protagonists as CAP Cadets? That would be perfectly ok and it wouldn't matter at all if NHQ objected.

It is true that filmmakers often seek out help from armed forces and offer script approval but that's because they need logistical support not because of any requirement for permission.

Second, it's even more unlikely that CAP was ever in the story because the general public knows nothing about CAP. Therefore there would have to be a whole pointless back-story explaining what CAP is. That CAP is not really part of the military, that children participate as Cadets etc. None of this would advance the script. No script with this useless material would ever be approved.

Red Dawn used a football team because everyone knows what a high school football team is. Eagle Scouts are mentioned as a supposedly "elite paramilitary organization" because most people have at least a vague idea what an Eagle Scout is. Nobody knows what the CAP is and therefore it wouldn't appear in a film.

[dogboy]

"According Oliver Stone's film JFK, David Ferrie and other members of the alleged conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy were members of the Civil Air Patrol, and had supposedly given Cuban exiles military training for the Bay of Pigs invasion."

Run for it boys! Their on to us!

And then Cuban intelligence retaliated against CAP by sending in a deep cover operative to take over our organization and ....hey wait a minute.......

Major Lord

Don't forget that Lee Harvey Oswald was a member of Texas Wing.

He was in a squadron in New Orleans. New Orleans is in Louisiana not Texas.

[MSG Mac]

"According Oliver Stone's film JFK, David Ferrie and other members of the alleged conspiracy to assassinate President John F. Kennedy were members of the Civil Air Patrol, and had supposedly given Cuban exiles military training for the Bay of Pigs invasion."

Run for it boys! Their on to us!

And then Cuban intelligence retaliated against CAP by sending in a deep cover operative to take over our organization and ....hey wait a minute.......

Major Lord

Don't forget that Lee Harvey Oswald was a member of Texas Wing.

He was in a squadron in New Orleans. New Orleans is in Louisiana not Texas.

Lee Harvey was a member of Texas Wing as a cadet prior to joining the Marine Corps. In addition the Texas Book depository was owned by Col, Later BG, Bird, CAP's Chairman of the Board at the time.

[Smoothice]

In the movie "Project-X" with Matthew Broderick and the monkeys, his AF commander says "I am removing you from your duty as the leiason with Civil Air Patrol"  after he takes a girl flying in an O2

[tsrup]

Literally while reading this thread, I just saw a flash of a Civil Air Patrol cadet while watching "Gangland" on Spike.

No specific mention, the cadet was just in the background handing out flyers at a veteran's event that the Motorcycle Gang was attending.

[ColonelJack]

Once in a great while Hollywood does something that shows that some of the people out on the Left Coast may have an IQ above room temperature.  Like in Starship Troopers, the troop-carrying spaceship was named the "Rodger Young."  Rodger Young was a Medal of Honor recipient in the 37th Infantry Division in World War II.

Or they just took it verbatim from the text of Mr. Heinlein's 1959 masterpiece (of which the movie made a mockery, but, alas, that is a topic for another thread).

I always believed the credits should've read, "Based very, very, VERY, VERY loosely on the novel by Robert A. Heinlein."

Jack

[SarDragon]

Only four verys? A stretch, IMHO. Needs a few more. 

[JohnKachenmeister]

"Red Dawn" was originally supposed to be about a CAP squadron, but NHQ refused to give permission for the name and logo to be used.  So they made it about the football team instead.

"Iron Eagle" was also supposed to be about a CAP squadron on an AF base, but NHQ again refused to let the name and logos be used, so the producers made it a private dependent flying club made up of teenagers on base.

I've heard these stories a hundred times and never seen a shred of documentation for them. They are highly unlikely. They always seem to come from people who know nothing about the law and less about filmmaking.

First, filmmakers don't have to obtain the permission  of CAP NHQ to use the name and logo. It's called "fair use". Do you think they got Army permission to make "Platoon?

If the script were openly defamatory about CAP, such as claiming that adult CAP leaders of Cadets are pedophiles, then there might be some legal ground for objecting. But just identifying protagonists as CAP Cadets? That would be perfectly ok and it wouldn't matter at all if NHQ objected.

It is true that filmmakers often seek out help from armed forces and offer script approval but that's because they need logistical support not because of any requirement for permission.

Second, it's even more unlikely that CAP was ever in the story because the general public knows nothing about CAP. Therefore there would have to be a whole pointless back-story explaining what CAP is. That CAP is not really part of the military, that children participate as Cadets etc. None of this would advance the script. No script with this useless material would ever be approved.

Red Dawn used a football team because everyone knows what a high school football team is. Eagle Scouts are mentioned as a supposedly "elite paramilitary organization" because most people have at least a vague idea what an Eagle Scout is. Nobody knows what the CAP is and therefore it wouldn't appear in a film.

I was relating a story told to me by a guy who worked in the office which approved DoD support for such fiulms.  I guess all us G.I. types are just stupid, eh?

[RNOfficer]

I was relating a story told to me by a guy who worked in the office which approved DoD support for such fiulms.  I guess all us G.I. types are just stupid, eh?

Your story is not plausible, particularly since the DoD has no role in approving the use of the CAP name and logo, even in fiulms. That is purely a corporate matter.

What was the name of the Lt Col DoD PAO that you supposedly discussed this with?  Or were you also discussing atomic secrets so his name is classified?

[dogboy]

DoD support was also withheld for "Heartbreak Ridge" because the producers refused to redact the scene where Gunny Highway shoots the wounded Cubans.

This is completely incorrect. The Army refused cooperation because they didn't like Eastwood's character. The producers turned to the Marine Corps , who agree to supply support for the project.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heartbreak_Ridge

[dogboy]

Lee Harvey was a member of Texas Wing as a cadet prior to joining the Marine Corps.

Evidence for this? LHO's life has been intensely studies so it shouldn't be hard to find if actually true.

[FlyTiger77]

Once in a great while Hollywood does something that shows that some of the people out on the Left Coast may have an IQ above room temperature.  Like in Starship Troopers, the troop-carrying spaceship was named the "Rodger Young."  Rodger Young was a Medal of Honor recipient in the 37th Infantry Division in World War II.

Or they just took it verbatim from the text of Mr. Heinlein's 1959 masterpiece (of which the movie made a mockery, but, alas, that is a topic for another thread).

I always believed the credits should've read, "Based very, very, VERY, VERY loosely on the novel by Robert A. Heinlein."

Jack

True. I give the book to new Army lieutenants that work for me. The movie used the book's title and little else of what Mr. Heinlein was really trying to get across.

[AirAux]

To see a picture of Lee harvey Oswald as a cadet:

http://www.antiquetrader.com/article/?p_ArticleId=5436

[Nilsog]

Not a movie, but CAP is mentioned in the Max Brooks book World War Z. It has a section where he interviews a pilot of 'Combat Dirigible' which makes up the core of "America's Civil Air Patrol"

I guess Zombies were enough to get non-combat taken out of the charter.

[spacecommand]

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/oswald/glimpse/ferrie.html

FRONTLINE obtained this photograph from John B. Ciravolo, Jr., of New Orleans. Ciravolo was also a C.A.P. member in 1955 and says he was in the same unit with Oswald and was standing right in front of him in the photo. Ciravolo identified David Ferrie, while former C.A.P. cadet Tony Atzenhoffer, also of New Orleans, identified Oswald and Ferrie in the photograph, and Colin Hammer, who says he served with both men in the C.A.P., also identified both in the photograph.

From my research Oswald was a member of Louisiana Wing not Texas Wing.

[JohnKachenmeister]

I was relating a story told to me by a guy who worked in the office which approved DoD support for such fiulms.  I guess all us G.I. types are just stupid, eh?

Your story is not plausible, particularly since the DoD has no role in approving the use of the CAP name and logo, even in fiulms. That is purely a corporate matter.

What was the name of the Lt Col DoD PAO that you supposedly discussed this with?  Or were you also discussing atomic secrets so his name is classified?

Oh, for God's sake.  This was a conversation over cocktails back in the mid-1990's.  I don't remember his name.

I'm dropping this conversation.  You're getting psychotic about this.


Kack

[RNOfficer]

I was relating a story told to me by a guy who worked in the office which approved DoD support for such fiulms.  I guess all us G.I. types are just stupid, eh?

Your story is not plausible, particularly since the DoD has no role in approving the use of the CAP name and logo, even in fiulms. That is purely a corporate matter.

What was the name of the Lt Col DoD PAO that you supposedly discussed this with?  Or were you also discussing atomic secrets so his name is classified?

Oh, for God's sake.  This was a conversation over cocktails back in the mid-1990's.  I don't remember his name.

I'm dropping this conversation.  You're getting psychotic about this.


Kack

I guess all us G.I. types are just stupid